Apostille and Legalization Between Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina - Which Court, Which Sequence, How Long

Apostille replaces legalization between Georgia and Bosnia

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a Hague Apostille member by succession from Yugoslavia, with the Convention in force since its independence, and Georgia joined in 2007, so a public document from either country is recognized in the other once apostilled by the issuing country's competent authority. Bosnia's embassy accredited to Georgia and Georgia's embassy accredited to Bosnia - both accredited from elsewhere in the region rather than resident - do not legalize documents between the two countries; what they handle is passports, consular registration and consular acts, which are separate from the apostille.

Which Bosnian authority wants an apostille differs. The Služba za poslove sa strancima requires apostilles on the conviction certificate and civil status documents; matični uredi require them on everything; universities and the ministries require them on diplomas for nostrification; registration courts require them on founder documents; courts require them on everything. Whether the translation itself must be apostilled is rarely asked when a sudski tumač re-certifies; when our notarized translation is used directly, some offices ask for its apostille too, and we provide it. Georgian offices require a Georgian notarized translation and an apostille on the Bosnian original.

Where Bosnian documents get their apostille: courts by entity

Bosnia issues apostilles through its courts, and the competent court depends on where the document was issued. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the općinski sud (municipal court) with jurisdiction over the issuing municipality apostilles documents from that municipality's matični ured, schools and universities, police and other bodies - the Općinski sud u Sarajevu for Sarajevo documents, the Općinski sud u Tuzli for Tuzla documents, and so on - and notarial documents from notaries in its territory. In Republika Srpska, the osnovni sud (basic court) with jurisdiction over the issuing opština does the same - the Osnovni sud u Banjoj Luci for Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Doboj, Prijedor and others for their areas. In Brčko District, the Osnovni sud Brčko Distrikta. Apostilles are usually issued the same day or within a few days on presentation of the original, and a relative or an agent can obtain them; some documents issued by state-level institutions are apostilled by the courts in Sarajevo. Bosnian citizens already in Georgia can obtain apostilles through a relative or a lawyer with a punomoć. We confirm the court for each document.

Apostille on Georgian documents for Bosnia

Georgian documents going to Bosnia are apostilled here, and this part we handle entirely. Civil status certificates and Public Service Hall extracts are apostilled through the Public Service Development Agency; notarial acts and court documents through the Ministry of Justice route; diplomas and school certificates through the education verification route, which is the slowest at up to five business days; the conviction certificate through the Ministry of Internal Affairs route. You bring the original to Agmashenebeli 117 once, or a relative brings it, and we submit, track and collect the apostille, then translate the bundle into Bosnian and notarize it, apostille the notarized translation where the receiving office asks, and arrange sudski tumač re-certification in Sarajevo where required. Clients in Bosnia receive the finished set by courier within three to four days.

Documents most often apostilled between Georgia and Bosnia

• Residence in Bosnia: Georgian conviction certificate, marriage and birth certificates, marital status certificate, diplomas for work permits.
• Marriage and registration at the matični ured: Georgian birth certificate, marital status certificate, divorce decisions; Georgian marriage certificates for registration in Bosnia.
• Nostrification and university admission: Georgian diplomas, supplements, school leaving certificates.
• For Georgian residence permits: Bosnian uvjerenje o nekažnjavanju, rodni and vjenčani listovi, uvjerenja o državljanstvu, diplome.
• For company registration in Georgia: Bosnian izvodi iz sudskog registra, osnivački akti and punomoći.
• Sports: Bosnian and Georgian players' contracts, birth certificates and medical documents for federation registration.
• Succession and property: Georgian death and inheritance certificates for Bosnian ostavinski postupci; Bosnian rješenja o nasljeđivanju for Georgian notaries.

The sequence for Bosnian files

• Step 1: the Georgian original is apostilled by the competent Georgian authority, where the receiving Bosnian office requires it.
• Step 2: we translate the document and its apostille into Bosnian and the translation is notarized.
• Step 3 (where asked): the notarized translation is apostilled, or re-certified by a partner sudski tumač in Sarajevo.
• Step 4: the bundle is kept stapled as issued, scanned as one file where an office accepts email, and shipped where paper is needed.

Translating before apostilling leaves the apostille certificate untranslated; skipping the apostille for the matični ured costs a second appointment. We confirm the sequence in the first reply based on the receiving office.

Timing, validity and common errors

Apostilles on Georgian civil status documents usually take one to three business days; notarial acts and court documents about the same; education documents up to five. Add 1-2 hours for the translation and a few days plus courier for sudski tumač re-certification. Bosnian court apostilles are usually same-day. The Služba za poslove sa strancima and Georgian offices accept conviction certificates for a limited period, usually six months or less, and matični uredi want civil status documents recently issued, so timing matters. The errors we correct most often are an untranslated apostille certificate, a document apostilled by the wrong entity's court, a rodni list of the old Yugoslav form without a current issue date, a missing uvjerenje o državljanstvu where the office expects it alongside the rodni list, a Georgian document in a maiden name that differs from the passport, č, ć and đ transliterated inconsistently into Georgian, and a bundle unstapled for scanning. Send photos of both sides of every page and we run this check before submitting.

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